


Enrique's whole family has a MAJOR flaw

by GreatMarta



Category: Coco (2017)
Genre: Drama, Early Relationship, F/M, Getting to Know Each Other, difficult conversations, enrisa, luisque, miguel's parents, the music ban
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-05
Updated: 2018-07-05
Packaged: 2019-06-05 21:30:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,778
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15179798
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GreatMarta/pseuds/GreatMarta
Summary: Luisa learns about the Rivera family's music ban.





	Enrique's whole family has a MAJOR flaw

**Author's Note:**

> Sort of sequel to "Enrique has a flaw", but can work separately.

 

Once there was a family – a Mama, a Papa, and their little girl. At some point, the Papa decided he wanted to become a famous musician, so he took his guitar and left. This was the last his wife and daughter saw of him. The embittered woman got rid of everything that reminded her of the walkaway husband, rolled up her sleeves, and learned to make shoes to support herself and her little girl. Years later, the business she established is still profitable, and her descendants well off. However, the admiration for their courageous matriarch, combined with disregard for her lousy husband, has lead them to banish all forms of music from their lives.

Such is the story of the Rivera family - the shoemakers of Santa Cecilia. The family of Enrique Rivera, the man Luisa was dating. The very same Enrique Rivera who now sat opposite to her at a table of a quiet little café, waiting for her to process what he’s just revealed.

It was no easy task. Luisa was finding it hard to wrap her head around the idea of anybody hating music so much. She had heard that the renowned Zapateras disliked music, but such a general statement didn't even begin to describe the harsh truth. They were not allowed to play music. They were not allowed to listen to music. They were not allowed to sing, hum, whistle, or dance. They even had a policy in their workshop not to make dancing shoes. Such was the extent of the Rivera family’s music ban.

Such were the rules followed by Luisa’s boyfriend.

Luisa broke into cold sweat as the implications dawned up on her. Enrique wasn't hyper-sensitive to noise, as she had formerly assumed – he was conditioned to avoid any sound that remotely resembled music. If she were to stay with him, to become his wife, those rules would become hers. Those rules would be forced upon any child she brings into this world.

She did not like this. She did not like this one bit.

Judging by Enrique’s expression, this was precisely the reaction he expected of her. He appeared calm, but dark anxiety lurked below his unassuming surface. He was well aware of how the outside world perceived his family’s way of life. He realized what they did wasn’t normal. Above anything else, he realized what a tremendous sacrifice it would be for anybody who grew up without such strict limitations to accept them as their own.

Though he didn’t say it out loud, Luisa could easily deduce he wasn’t getting his hopes up as to her opinion on the matter. He was silent, with such a haunted look in his eyes. The look of a condemned man awaiting his sentence.

He was expecting her to break up with him.

The young woman felt a stirring of compassion for her boyfriend. She wondered how many times he's had this exact conversation before, how many of his relationships ended because of the way he was brought up.

Her heart went out to Enrique, but her brain smacked it down. The urge to comfort her man collided with the urge to run for her life. She couldn’t decide whether she should proclaim her love for him, or bail out before she fell for him too hard.

It wasn’t right. She didn’t want to break up with Enrique. She loved him. Still, her loyalty was to her own family above anything else. She’d always chose her parents and sister over a romantic partner, no matter how much it hurt her. She knew Enrique felt the same. It was part of the reason she felt for him so strongly.

She couldn’t decide whether she should be feeling sorry for him or herself.

Good Lord, what did they ever do to deserve this?

Enrique was waiting for her response. She had to tell him something

The young woman twisted nervously in her chair. This was going to be a difficult conversation. Alas, nothing truly worth doing ever is easy.

With a heavy heart, she spoke up. “Don't you think it's a little... extreme?” she asked hesitantly. It seemed like a safe enough start.

“Perhaps” conceded Enrique. “But this is my family's normal. I don't really think about it, to be honest. I just go along with it”

Something about his resigned attitude stroke a sensitive chord in Luisa’s heart. She couldn’t decide whether she should be comforting or criticizing, so she stuck to neutral politeness - or at least attempted to.

“Enrique” she addressed her boyfriend calmly. “Your great-grandfather abandoned his family because he was a self-centered bastard, not because he was a musician. He'd have done the same if he were a painter, an illusionist, or God knows what else. You are intelligent, you must understand this”

Enrique let out a sigh. “You are probably right. But it's not that simple. I don't think Mama Imelda was thinking straight when she made those rules. She had her heart broken, she was left alone with a small child, she did what she had to do to keep herself from falling apart. And my Mama, she loved her grandmother very much. I guess, upholding the music ban is her way of honoring Mama Imelda's memory. Something that helps her cope with the grief”

The explanation made perfect sense. The fact irritated Luisa to no end. It would have benefited her way more to have some solid reasons to hate Enrique’s family, but here she was, mentally acknowledging their rights. The realization seemed to have doubled the anxiety levels in her system.

“Even so, that's no excuse for terrorizing your whole family” she insisted. “You shouldn’t have to suffer because of something that happened so many years ago”

This came out harsher than she intended it, but whatever. This was no time to be dancing around the subject.

 “We aren't suffering” protested Enrique, displaying irritation for the first time since they sat down to talk. “Nobody’s terrorizing anyone. Our lives are perfectly normal, only that we don’t have music”

Luisa hesitated. She wanted Enrique to stand up for himself, but not like this. Not against her. She was his partner, for crying out loud!

Those were foolish thoughts and she was ashamed of them. Getting angry won’t solve the issue at hand. Though pretending she wasn’t hurt won’t get her far, either.

Judging by Enrique’s expression, he shared her sentiment.

Luisa decided to try from a different angle. “Do you really hate music?” she asked bluntly.

“I don't hate it. It’s just something I don’t really need. I mean, I am perfectly fine with hearing it every now and then by accident. It's unavoidable. But I don't deem it important enough to actively seek it out. My life is fine without it”

She eyed him suspiciously. “How did your brother's wedding look like?”

“A quiet mass, followed by a quiet feast. No music, no dancing, just blessings and lots of food. Carmen’s brother wanted to dedicate a song to her and Berto, but we managed to talk him out of it. He recited the lyrics in the form of a poem, and that was fine”

“And your sister's quincenera?”

“My father, brother and I picked her up from school dressed in charro suits, and paraded her through town on a white horse. Mother made her a personalized pair of boots and lots of food for all of us. There wasn't any music, or dancing, but Gloria was overjoyed”

“What about television?”

“We hardly watch any. Maybe some news or weather forecasts, but we can get those from newspapers”

“And what about church music?”

“We attend the earliest morning mass. The service is as simple as can be. There are no choir singers, the priest is not entirely awake and nobody feels like providing the music”

Luisa had to admit she was impressed. They had it all figured out. The way her boyfriend put it, this lifestyle sounded harmless enough. Still, she was having a hard time imagining it play out in practice.

Enrique risked donning a little smile. “To be honest, I didn't always respect my mother's wishes” he confessed. “When I was particularly angry at her, I'd whistle on my way to school. If saying 'phew-phew' counts as whistling. There were also times I visited places that had music, just to see how it would affect me. I didn't enjoy myself the slightest bit. It almost felt like attending a celebration in honor of a deity I did not consider my own. I felt so out of place, so lost, so defenseless. Other times I caught myself liking a certain tune, and that felt even worse” at this point, he looked away in shame. “It was as if I was betraying my family”

Luisa hurried to comfort him, her more negative feelings cast aside for the time being. “This isn't right. There nothing wrong with liking music” she said firmly.

“I know” said Enrique with just as much confidence. “Rest assured, I am most certainly not losing sleep over this. Like I said, I have no problem with stumbling across music, but if I can avoid it, this is what I do. I know how strange this seems to people from the outside, but every family has its own normal. Some chose to not eat meat. Some chose to live without alcohol. Some chose to live without electricity. Is giving up on music any more unnatural than giving up on certain foods? On earthly possessions?”

Luisa thought about this. “I guess not” she conceded.

Enrique let out a sigh. “Luisa, I know it’s a lot to take in” he said gently. “You probably need some time to get it all arranged in your head. If you have any questions, I will be more than willing to answer. I care about you, but I am never going to take you to a disco, or a concert, or a cinema. I understand that this might be a significant issue, so if you decide you don't want to keep seeing me, I'll understand”

Luisa couldn’t bring herself to meet his eyes. She didn’t want to hurt him. She honest to God cared about this man. But she wasn’t sure if the price of his love was a price she was willing to pay. Until she knew for sure, she had no right to lead him on.

“Thank you. For your honesty” she told him – the least harmful answer she could think of in this situation.

“Thank you for hearing me out” was his reply.

Luisa’s gut twisted into a knot. This was no easy conversation, but the real struggle was only beginning.


End file.
